Gearing for bicycles



(No Model.)

B. L. SHULTZ,

- I 'GBARING POB. BIGYGLBS. No. 518,970. Patented May 1, 1894.

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NrTne STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD L. SHUIJTZ, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

GEARING FOR BICYCLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 518,970, dated May 1, 1894 Application filed March 25, 1893l Serial No. 467 618. (No model.) Y

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD L. SHULTZ, a

' citizen of Warsaw, Poland, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gearing-for Bicycles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to geared bicycles, the object being to furnish improved'gearing whereby one of the wheels of a' bicycle of the so-called safety class may be positively actuated from the treadle-shaft through a con-y necting shaft and gearing.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, -Figure l, is a sectional plan view of a portion of the framework of a bicycle of the class specified, furnished with my present improvements. Fig. 2 is a sectional sideelevation of the same, on line a--a as seen from below in Fig. 1. Fig. l may be considered as a section in line b b Fig. 2.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures.

My present improvements are applicable to the gearing for connecting the usual pedalshaft 2 with the side-shaft, or intermediate shaft, 6; of the bicycle.

The application of ordinary bevel-gearing and connecting shafts to the driving of bicycles of the safety class, andas a substitute for the more usual chain and sprocket wheels, being old and well known, I have deemed it sufficient to illustrate in the drawings of my present application only those parts of the framework of the bicycle which immediately connect with, or relate to, my present invention. In Figs. l and 2, therefore, I have work of the bicycle, which portion is shown provided at the opposite ends thereof with In this pedalthe ball-track bushings 8 and 9, in one of which are shown the usual balls,v10, of the ball-bearing Vthese balls bear against the balltrack 31, of the hub 11, of the pedal-gear `12. Said pedal-gear is shown provided with a series of pin-teeth 13, which may, as herein shown, consist of separate pins inserted into the disk/of vvthe pedal-gear, or may, if preferredybe formed integral therewith. The pedal gear teeth 13, mesh with the teeth 16, of a driven-gear i7. Said gear 17, is shown fixedto the forward end I8', of the aforesaid side-shaft 6. -Ou its forward side said drivenwheel is shown having a projecting hub or journal 19, grooved for receivingthe balls 20, which run within a track formed between a suitably-shaped portion 2l, of the framework and a ring-bearing 22, screwed into said frame-portion 2l, as will be understood from Fig. l. By means`of the flange 24, of said ring-bearing 22, this bearing may be screwed more or less into the frame-portion 2l, for the purpose of adjusting the it of the balls between said tracks. here referred to is, or may be, in the nature of a bearing-block (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2), which block is shown held in place by means of its band 23, that extends around the aforesaid frame-tube 7, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2. Said bearing-block 2l, is shown provided with the upwardlyand downwardly-extending arms 25 and 26, respectively, to which are fastened the ends, 27 and 28, respectively, of the yoke 29; which yoke is fixed to the forward end of the aforesaid frame-tube 3, (in which is contained the side-shaft 6,) and, by extending over the gear as shown, connects together the .described parts of the bicycle-framework. The gear I7 on the side-shaft 6, has its teeth of so-called ribbed form and approximately longitudinally of said side-shaft, with spaces between the teeth after the manner common to spurgearing of the same general class. The opposite gear consists, of a disk, as l2, in position adjacent to the face of the opposite ribbed-toothed gear, so that thefpin-formed teeth of said gear-disk mesh properlywith the ribbed teeth of said side-shaft gear, as will be understood from the several gures of drawings.

An important further feature of my inven- The frame-portion 2l,

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tion is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, and consists in a combination of gears in which one o'f them is elliptical or oblong, as illustrated, for instance, in Fig. 2, Where the oblong driving-gear 12, is shown with the long-radius teeth at one end lthereof engaging in the driven-gear 17, at which time the drivinggear is imparting the greatest velocity to the driven-gear, and consequently, through the side-shaft and the drive-Wheel gearing, to the bicycle itself. As the driving-wheel 12, revolves to its quarter-position shown by the dotted line 30, (representing the centers of the series of teeth 13,) the rotary movement of the pedal-shaft and the said driving-gear is, relatively faster as compared with the movement of said driven-gear 17, and consequently the bicycle will be driven at a correspondingly slower speed relatively to the movement of the pedal-shaft itself. In practice, however, the driving-gear 12, and not the bicycle, will, owing to the natural action of the rider in treading the pedals, be subjected to the varying rate of movement. The effect of this is, in practice, to reduce the speed of the pedals relatively to the speed of the machine during the mid-stroke portion of their rising or descending movement, and tovaccelerate the rotary movement of the pedals as these approach the dead-centers of their movement,--that is, in usual practice, the upper and lower points in their path of movement.

My present improvements, as describedin connection with Figs. 1 and 2, have the ,advantages obtained in chain-driven bicycles by the use of the elliptical sprocket-whee1, in addition to the advantages of the geared bicycle over the chain-driven bicycle.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In ahicycle, the combination in the drivegearing thereof, of tWo shafts located in cross- Wise positions, and a pairof gears, one on each shaftrespectively, one of which gears is oblong, whereby the shafts are driven with varying relative velocities, substantially as set forth.

2. In a bicycle, the combination in the driving-gearing thereof, of the pedal-shaft, the intermediate shaft, the gear on the intermediate shaft, and an oblong gear on the pedalshaft, whereby the pedal-shaft has varying velocities relatively to theside-shaft,substantially as set forth.

EDWARD L. SHULTZ.

Witnesses:

HENRY H. BosWoRTH, CLARA F. BUSHEE. 

